1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device and a method for feeding a patient intravenously in a manner that reduces the potential for active and passive interruption of the intravenous therapy except as authorized by medical personnel.
2. Prior Art
After a catheter is inserted into a patient's vein, the catheter and its associated tubing are commonly taped to the patient to maintain the catheter in position. Unfortunately, such taping is of limited effectiveness. Many patients move in a manner which inadvertantly pulls on the tubing. Sometimes the tubing is accidently pulled by those near the patient, as, or example, by someone changing the bedclothes. Such pulling often entirely removes the catheter from the vein or tears the vein in which the catheter lies, thereby interrupting the intravenous therapy in all too often critical situations. Further, when the vein is torn, painful infiltration of fluid into the surrounding tissue results.
While it is often difficult to maintain intravenous feeding of cooperative patients, many demented or injured patients, unknowingly and sometimes intentionally, will often pull the catheter from their bodies, thereby denying themselves lifesaving fluid. Unfortunately, in such cases, the patients must be fully restrained in their beds in order to conduct intravenous feeding. This is certainly an uncomfortable and undesirable situation.
When the catheter is pulled and results in either full removal of the catheter, or disruption of the wall of the vein, medical personnel must first become aware of the problem and then locate another vein and re-insert the cathether. The number of veins available for intravenous therapy is, however, limited by both the state of health of the patient and the number of veins already damaged by previous cathether insertions. It is often difficult, therefore, to re-insert a catheter into a patient who is in poor health or who has undergone extended intravenous therapy.
Thus, it is clearly undesirable to allow situations where the patient's catheter might be pulled upon: the patient's health is endangered; the patient is subjected to pain associated with fluid infiltration into the surrounding tissue; the patient is subjected to pain associated with re-insertion of the cathether; and medical staff is diverted from other important duties.
The prior art has attempted many means of overcoming the ineffectiveness of tape in maintaining a catheter in a patient's vein. These devices utilize a strap of some sort tightly secured around the patient's limb, with the catheter and/or its tubing attached to the strap. Examples of such devices are those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,851 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,421. Even slight constriction of a limb by such devices, however, creates a tourniquet effect, slowing and often stopping flow in the veins. Restriction of flow in the veins promotes blood coagulation in the catheter and elevates the pressure in the vein, which thereby promotes tearing of the vessel wall. A constricting band can therefore render the vein, and the catheter inserted therein, useless for further fluid administration.
Flexure of a joint may also restrict venous flow. The prior art has, therefore, utilized devices to restrict flexure of the patient's limb during intravenous feeding. Illustrative devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,851 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,508. These prior art devices are, however, constricting and very uncomfortable for the patient. Further, in order to be effective, they must usually closely fit the contours of the limb to which they are to be attached. Hence, it is necessary that many different sizes and shapes of any particular device be available, in order to accomodate not only persons of different dimensions in both the adult and pediatric populations, but also the right and left limbs of such diverse populations. The means most commonly used to prevent flexure of a patient's limb is a padded splint taped tightly to the limb. This is commonly known as an arm board.
The prior art devices used to maintain the cathether in position and to restrict limb flexure greatly limit the number and the location of potential catheter insertion sites by covering a significant portion of the limb. Such a limitation may not be tolerable for a patient having few available veins or requiring extended intravenous therapy.